Wednesday, July 16, 2008

In honor of yesterday's All Star Game, I turn my attention now to the unofficial baseball anthem, Take Me Out to the Ballgame. At camp we would sing it occasionally. For many years there was a traditional game of softball one of the last days of each session, pitting the staff versus the "all stars" campers from the softball league that played games during morning swims.

I believe that all may have transitioned to soccer - don't get me started on that - but back in the day we sang TMOTTB, which perhaps many already knew from the 7th inning stretch at Twins' games.

So, here are three sites about the song:

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Out_to_the_Ball_GameNow we know that this is the 100th anniversary of the song's debut as a pop music hit. And that it is the third most commonly sung song in America.

2 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1556376&vid=141873A Minnesota indie band (now based in Brooklyn) covers the song for the Twins (do they now play this at the Metrodome??)

3 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/notebook?page=bbtn/takemeoutNine popular acts record versions for an ESPN battle of the bands.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Here is a link with a few of the traditional versions of the lyrics as well as the sheet music. As you can see, it's from a bagpipe site. Whenever I think of what a bagpiper usually plays, it's something along the lines of "Wha Saw."

http://usahpd.com/tunes/whasaw42.htm

When sung as a round, starting a new group every two beats, it makes for a fun ending as the droning, steady rhythm gives way to an increasingly clear "bramble briar... bramble briar... bramble briar."

Here is a link to a midi file of the bagpipe version - chose the third medley down: